I’m in a sort of dilemma! Okay, so I have 7 Female Bettas in a 20 Gallon sorority tank, and they’re all quite healthy and seemingly very happy. So what’s the issue? Well my tank busted out in algae, not the good green kind but the pesty brown diatom kind. And I’ve wanted to get some Otocinclus catfish, and thought of this as the perfect opportunity.

And they were great; ate all the algae away in a matter of 3 days! And here is where the problem starts. So I don’t have fast enough algae growth to sustain the Oto cat’s needs, so I bought some algae wafers from the LPS (Hikari Tropical Sinking Algae Wafers) to feed them with. But the Oto cats don’t even get a chance to discover this as food because the Betta’s find it and they all start poking on it till they’ve all eaten the entire thing! And the little timid Cats go nowhere near the carnivorous Betta eating frenzy. My girls are crazy curious and try to eat anything that goes into their tank, including my hands as I prune the live plants!

So how do I feed my Cats without my Bettas eating it first D: And are Algae wafers even healthy for Bettas?! I know they’re mainly carnivores, so wouldn’t a vegetable diet be bad for them? And they’ve all gotten very FAT from eating all the algae wafers v_v. I want to fast them but I don’t want the Otos to go hungry… eek!

I have the same problem and still haven't figured it out! I have tried making it as dark as possible for 1 hour then dropping the algae wafer in....still attack of the girls. I bought a really small glass vase, covered the hole up halfway, thinking the bettas couldn't get in but the oto's could. WRONG! The girls would lay on there sides and wiggle there way in. I have tried cucumber slices and zuccini slices...STILL the girls go after it. If you figure it out LET ME KNOW!!!